1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
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The 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt took place from March to June 1937 in the Canadian
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. It was a rebellion against Premier
William Aberhart William Aberhart (December 30, 1878 – May 23, 1943), also known as "Bible Bill" for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh premier of Alberta from 1935 to his death in 1943. He was the founder and first leader ...
by a group of
backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
(not part of the cabinet) members of the Legislative Assembly (
MLAs The Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) was a proposed alternative to the Maxime Faget-invented "tractor" launch escape system (LES) that was planned for use by NASA for its Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft in the event an Ares I malfunction du ...
) from his Social Credit League. The dissidents were unhappy with Aberhart's failure to provide Albertans with monthly dividends through
social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...
as he had promised before his 1935 election. When the government's 1937 budget made no move to implement the dividends, many MLAs revolted openly and threatened to defeat the government in a
confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
. The revolt took place in a period of turmoil for Aberhart and his government: besides the dissident backbenchers, half of the cabinet resigned or was fired over a period of less than a year. Aberhart also faced criticism for planning to attend the coronation of George VI at the province's expense and for stifling a
recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...
attempt against him by the voters of his constituency. After a stormy debate in which the survival of the government was called into question, a compromise was reached whereby Aberhart's government relinquished considerable power to a committee of backbenchers. This committee, dominated by insurgents, recruited two British social credit experts to come to Alberta and advise on the implementation of social credit. Among the experts' first moves was to require a loyalty pledge from Social Credit MLAs. Almost all signed, thus ending the crisis, though most of the legislation the experts proposed was ultimately disallowed or struck down as unconstitutional.


Background

During the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
,
Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
schoolteacher and radio evangelist William Aberhart converted to a British economic theory called
social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...
. He promoted the theory in Alberta, believing it could end the depression and restore prosperity to the province. When the provincial government resisted its adoption, Aberhart organised social credit candidates for the 1935 provincial election. These candidates won 56 of the province's 63 seats, and Aberhart became
Premier of Alberta The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022. The ...
. In the runup to the campaign, Aberhart promised to increase Albertans'
purchasing power Purchasing power is the amount of goods and services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if one had taken one unit of currency to a store in the 1950s, it would have been possible to buy a greater number of items than would ...
by providing monthly dividends to all citizens in the form of non-negotiable "credit certificates". While he did not commit to any specific dividend amount, he cited $20 and, later, $25 per month as reasonable figures. Though he noted that these figures were given "only for illustrative purposes", he repeated them so often that, in the assessment of his biographers David Elliott and Iris Miller, "it would have been impossible for any regular listener not to have gained the impression that Aberhart was promising him $25 a month if Social Credit should come to power." Aberhart was not concerned about fulfilling campaign promises once elected, stating a week after the election that he thought the majority of his voters supported his initiatives for an uncorrupted government. He focused on reforming the provincial political institutions instead of enacting social credit policies. By the end of 1936, Aberhart's government had made no progress towards the promised dividends, leaving many Albertans disillusioned and frustrated. Aberhart's Social Credit MLAs, who had been elected on the promise of dividends, were angry at Aberhart's failure to follow through. Some felt that Aberhart lacked a real understanding of Douglas's theory and could not implement it. These MLAs wanted Douglas or somebody from his British organization to come to Alberta and fulfil Aberhart's campaign promises.Elliott 251 One such MLA, Samuel Barnes, had been expelled from the Social Credit caucus and from the Social Credit League for voicing these views.


Genesis

In December 1936,
John Hargrave John Gordon Hargrave (6 June 1894 – 21 November 1982), (woodcraft name 'White Fox'), was a prominent youth leader in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s, Head Man of the Kibbo Kift, described in his obituary as an 'author, cartoonist, inve ...
, the leader of the
Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was a political party in the United Kingdom. It grew out of the Kibbo Kift, which was established in 1920 as a more craft-based alternative for youth to the Boy Scouts.Peter Barberis, J ...
, visited Alberta. While he had been disowned by Douglas, many MLAs frustrated with Aberhart hoped he would help implement social credit policies in the province. Hargrave met with Aberhart and his cabinet, who told him that the
Canadian constitution The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents ar ...
(which made banking a matter of federal, rather than provincial, jurisdiction) was an obstacle to introducing social credit. Hargrave proposed a plan for implementing social credit in Alberta; while he acknowledged that it was unconstitutional, he believed that the federal government would not dare enforce its jurisdiction in the face of broad popular support for the program. After presenting his plan to a group of Social Credit MLAs, the news media reported that Aberhart intended to implement radical and unconstitutional laws. Aberhart disavowed implementing unconstitutional policies and announced that neither he nor his cabinet supported Hargrave's plan.Elliott 253 Despite this statement, the Social Credit caucus invited Hargrave to explain his plan, which he did to the approval of many caucus members. Attorney-General
John Hugill John William Hugill (October 3, 1881 – January 13, 1971) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General of Alberta from 1935 until 1937. Born in England, he came to Canada and studied law before setting up a practice in ...
pointed out that the plan was unconstitutional, to which Hargrave replied that he was "not interested in legal arguments." Two weeks later, Hargrave left the province, telling the press that he "found it impossible to co-operate with a government which e considereda mere vacillating machine."Elliott 255 In this message, some MLAs found confirmation of their misgivings about Aberhart. A group of them, reported as numbering anywhere from five ("soon joined by eight or ten others") to 22,Brennan 48Barr 102 or 30Schultz 5 held meetings in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
's Corona Hotel to discuss government policy and strategise their next political actions. Author
Brian Brennan Brian Michael Brennan (born February 15, 1962) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 1984 NFL Draft. He graduated from Brother Rice High School (Michigan).http://ww ...
identifies their leader as Pembina MLA Harry Knowlton Brown, while the academic T. C. Byrne names Ronald Ansley,
Joseph Unwin Joseph Henry Unwin (September 15, 1892 – January 4, 1987) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1940 as a member of the Social Credit Party. 1935 election Unwin ran in the 1935 ...
, and Albert Blue.Byrne 120 Minister of Lands and Mines Charles Cathmer Ross resigned late in 1936, followed by Provincial Treasurer Charles Cockroft on January 29, 1937. Neither minister's resignation was directly related to the dissidents' complaints, but the resignations were the public's first clue of dissent in Social Credit's ranks. Cockroft's resignation was followed by his deputy, J. F. Perceval, and there were rumours that Hugill and Minister of Agriculture and Trade and Industry
William Chant William Neelands Chant (July 13, 1895 – September 25, 1976) was a farmer and political figure in Alberta and British Columbia. He represented Camrose in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1940 as a Social Credit and then Inde ...
would also resign.Barr 101 This left Minister of Health Wallace Warren Cross, Minister of Public Works and Railways and Telephones
William Fallow William Allen Fallow (October 7, 1883 – May 3, 1948) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the ...
, and Provincial Secretary
Ernest Manning Ernest Charles Manning, (September 20, 1908 – February 19, 1996), a Canadian politician, was the eighth Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 for the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served longer than any other premier in Alberta's histor ...
as Aberhart's only indisputably loyal ministers, and Manning was ill with
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
and away from the legislature. On February 19,
William Carlos Ives William Carlos Ives (October 30, 1873 – July 10, 1950) was a Canadian provincial politician and provincial Supreme Court Justice. Early life William Carlos Ives was born in Compton, Quebec on October 30, 1873. His family moved to the Albe ...
of the
Supreme Court of Alberta The Court of King's Bench of Alberta (abbreviated in citations as ABKB or Alta. K.B.) is the superior court of the Canadian province of Alberta. Until 2022, it was named Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary w ...
struck down a key provincial legislation, including an act that reduced the interest paid on the province's bonds by half (though this was only a technical defeat, since the government had been defaulting on its bond payments since the previous April). On February 25, a new session of the legislature opened with the
speech from the throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...
. Its commitment to social credit was limited to a vaguely worded promise to pursue "a new economic order when social credit becomes effective."Brennan 49 Three days later, on his weekly radio program, Aberhart acknowledged that he had been unable to implement the monthly dividends during the eighteen-month period he had set as his deadline, and asked Social Credit
constituency association An electoral district association (french: association de circonscription enregistrée), commonly known as a riding association (french: association de comté) or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the ...
presidents to convene meetings of all Social Credit members to decide whether he ought to resign. He suggested that, in light of poor spring road conditions in rural areas, these meetings be delayed until early June, during which time he would remain in office.


Open dissent

The media objected to Aberhart's plan to place his government's future in the hands of the 10% of Albertans who were Social Credit members; the ''
Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...
'' called for an immediate election. To many Social Credit MLAs, Aberhart's greater offense was bypassing them, the people's elected representatives. This was especially irksome in view of social credit's political philosophy, which favoured
technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...
rule and held that elected representatives' only legitimate function was channelling the public desire; by appealing directly to Social Credit members, Aberhart appeared to be denying the MLAs this role.MacPherson 170 In the legislature,
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
leader David Duggan called for Aberhart's resignation; in a move that Brennan reports shocked the assembly, his call was endorsed by Social Credit backbencher Albert Blue. On March 11 or 12,Elliott 257 Cockroft's replacement as Provincial Treasurer, Solon Low, introduced the government's budget. It included no implementation of social credit, and was attacked by the opposition parties as "the default budget" and by insurgent Social Crediters as a "banker's budget" (a harsh insult given Social Credit's dim view of the banking industry). Ronald Ansley, a Social Credit MLA, attacked it as containing "not one single item that even remotely resembled Social Credit." Blue, again echoing Duggan, threatened on March 16 to vote against the government's interim supply bill, the defeat of which, under the conventions of the Westminster parliamentary system, would force the government's resignation. In response, Aberhart praised Blue's courage in speaking his mind, and called him a worthy Social Crediter.Elliott 258 Surprised by Aberhart's refusal to be involved in open conflict, the insurgents needed time to reassess their strategy. On March 17, Lieutenant-Governor Primrose died, necessitating a five-day adjournment of the legislature while the federal government selected a replacement. When the legislature reconvened on March 22Elliott 259 or 23, the dissidents filibustered against the budget. On March 24, Harry Knowlton Brown moved an adjournment, which was carried over the government's objections by a vote of 27 to 25. Though the insurgents considered this a
vote of non-confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
in Aberhart's government, he refused to resign; he acknowledged, however, that he would do so if the budget itself was defeated.Brennan 50


Coronation and recall petition

Though the bulk of the revolt took place in and around the legislature over the issue of social credit and government fiscal policy, Aberhart was also under attack on other fronts. He planned to attend the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, set for May 1937 in London. In the same speech in which he threatened to bring down the government on the supply motion, Blue attacked the trip as an extravagance that depression-ridden Alberta could ill afford. Faced with a political insurgency at home, Aberhart reluctantly decided at the end of March to cancel his trip, inaccurately claiming that he had never definitely decided to go.Elliott 261 In their first legislative act in 1935, the Social Credit government implemented the possibility of
recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...
s for MLAs.Elliott 273 As Aberhart's popularity fell, the residents of his
Okotoks-High River Okotoks-High River was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1971. History The Okotoks—High River electoral district was formed prior to the ...
riding began a petition for his recall. On April 9 their petition was endorsed by the riding's Social Credit constituency association,Barr 105 and by fall it had gathered the signatures of the required two-thirds of the electorate. In response, the Social Crediters repealed the ''Recall Act'' retroactive to its date of origin; Aberhart claimed that oil companies active in his riding had intimidated their workers into signing the petition, and that some of the signatories had moved to the area specifically to sign.


Manoeuvring and negotiation

In the aftermath of the insurgent victory on Brown's adjournment motion, Aberhart gave notice of closure on the budget debate on March 29, the first time a premier in Canada used this rule against members of their own party. Aberhart belatedly realized that a defeat on this vote might force his resignations as premier. He then announced that he would seek the consent of the legislature to withdraw his closure motion and move an interim supply motion instead. The unanimous consent needed to withdraw the closure motion was refused, and the motion itself was defeated. That evening, Aberhart negotiated with the insurgents for four hours until a compromise was accepted: the insurgents would support the supply bill, in exchange for which the cabinet would introduce a bill amending the ''Social Credit Measures Act'' to establish a board of MLAs empowered to appoint a commission of five experts to implement social credit.Elliott 260 On March 31 the insurgents kept their part of the agreement by allowing the supply bill to be passed on second reading, thus allowing further debate on the bill to continue, and for the budget to be hoisted (postponed) for ninety days.Barr 103 When the cabinet introduced its promised bill, the insurgents claimed that it was not as agreed and refused to support it. They demanded Aberhart's resignation and announced that they were prepared to take over the government within 24 hours. A delegation put this demand to Aberhart in the evening of March 31; according to them, he agreed to resign if they allowed the supply bill to pass a third reading, which would almost guarantee the passage of the bill into law. They did so, but Aberhart denied that he had agreed to resign and refused to do so unless he was defeated in a general election. The Social Credit caucus met that evening to consider calling an election or removing Aberhart as premier.Shultz 12–13 The insurgents, leery of Aberhart's oratorical powers and the reach of his weekly radio show, wanted to avoid an election.Elliott 261 The insurgents did not have enough support to remove Aberhart as premier, so the caucus notified the premier that they had not reached a decision and the status quo remained. On April 8MacPherson 171 or 12, the government capitulated. Low's ''Alberta Social Credit Act'' delivered what the insurgents wanted, including the creation of "Alberta credit" in the amount of "the unused capacity of industries and people of Alberta to produce wanted goods and services", the establishment of "credit houses" to distribute this credit, and the creation of a Social Credit Board. The bill was passed, and the insurgents were placated, though Brown warned during a cross-province speaking tour that they were determined to see social credit implemented, and "if anyone gets in our way, he's going to get into trouble ... we must choose between principles and party, between Social Credit and Premier Aberhart."Barr 104


Social Credit Board and commission

The
Social Credit Board The Social Credit Board was a committee in Alberta, Canada from 1937 until 1948. Composed of Social Credit backbenchers in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, it was created in the aftermath of the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt. Its ma ...
comprised five backbenchers. Insurgent Glenville MacLachlan was chair, and Aberhart loyalist
Floyd Baker Floyd Wilson Baker (October 10, 1916 – November 17, 2004) was an American professional baseball third baseman, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Browns (1943–1944), Chicago White Sox (1945–1951), Washington Senators ...
was secretary. The other three members were insurgents
Selmer Berg Selmer Allan Berg (August 7, 1886 – September 17, 1966) was a Canadian provincial politician from Alberta. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1948, sitting with the Social Credit caucus in government. ...
, James L. McPherson, and William E. Hayes. The Board was empowered to appoint a commission of between three and five experts to implement social credit; the commission was to be responsible to the Board.MacPherson 172 Historians have taken different approaches to analyzing the effect of the Board on traditional Westminster parliamentary governance. Political scientist
C. B. MacPherson Crawford Brough Macpherson (1911–1987) was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto. Life Macpherson was born on 18 November 1911 in Toronto, Ontario. After graduating from the Univ ...
emphasized "the extent to which the cabinet had abdicated in favour of a board composed of a few private members of the legislature", Byrne agrees that "in some respects, the powers granted to the board superseded those of the Executive Council" but notes that "Aberhart was permitted to carry on with regular government operations."Byrne 172 Elliott and Miller take a similar approach to MacPherson's, suggesting that "Aberhart and his cabinet ... were in a position, strange in a cabinet system of government, of being ruled in the matter of economic policy by a board of private members that would be under the influence of Social Credit 'experts'." Barr disagrees, arguing that the Board was "still under the control of cabinet" and pointing out that "the cabinet was left with the power", through its privileged position in introducing legislation, "to supplement or alter the provisions of the ''Alberta Social Credit Act''" under which terms the board was constituted. The cabinet disavowed any ownership of the act that established the Board. Though it was a government bill, the Provincial Treasurer explained that he took no responsibility for it, as it was drawn up by a committee of insurgents "without the interference of the cabinet". Though some insurgents complained that the version of the bill introduced by the government was different than that drafted by the committee, MacLachlan insisted that there had been no material changes. The bill was passed April 13, and the legislature adjourned the following day.MacPherson 173 MacLachlan travelled to England to invite Douglas to become head of the expert commission. Douglas refused but provided two of the experts the Board was charged with finding: L. D. Byrne, who was appointed to do most of the substantive work of creating the program, and George Frederick Powell, who was in charge of the commission's public relations.Elliott 264 MLAs returned to their constituencies during the legislative break, making it difficult for the insurgents to organise. Aberhart addressed his supporters in his weekly radio address, encouraging people to tell their MLAs to support him or force an election. Aberhart's supporters followed his instructions causing arguments at meetings between the insurgents and the loyalists. Aberhart fired
William Chant William Neelands Chant (July 13, 1895 – September 25, 1976) was a farmer and political figure in Alberta and British Columbia. He represented Camrose in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1940 as a Social Credit and then Inde ...
, a known Douglasite, from his cabinet after he refused to resign.Elliott 263 A petition calling for Aberhart's resignation circulated among backbenchers, and proved to be a plant by the cabinet to test MLAs' loyalty. Outwardly, however, the Social Crediters showed a united front as they awaited the promised experts; in the first recorded vote after the legislature reconvened June 7, all insurgents present voted with the government, though 13 were absent. One of Powell's first actions on arriving in Edmonton was to prepare a "loyalty pledge" committing its signatories "to uphold the Social Credit Board and its technicians." Most Social Credit MLAs signed, and the six who did not wrote to Powell assuring him of their loyalty to Douglas's objectivesMacPherson 51 (though one, former Provincial Treasurer Cockroft, later left the Social Credit League and unsuccessfully sought re-election as an "Independent Progressive").Brennan 51


Aftermath

Byrne and Powell prepared three acts for the implementation of social credit: the ''Credit of Alberta Regulation Act'', the ''Bank Employees Civil Rights Act'', and the ''Judicature Act Amendment Act''. The first required all bankers to obtain a license from the Social Credit Commission and created a directorate for the control of each bank, most members of which would be appointed by the Social Credit Board. The second prevented unlicensed banks and their employees from initiating civil actions. The third prevented any person from challenging the constitutionality of Alberta's laws in court without receiving the approval of the
Lieutenant-Governor in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...
. All three acts were quickly passed.MacPherson 177 New Lieutenant-Governor
John C. Bowen John Campbell Bowen (October 3, 1872 – January 2, 1957) was a clergyman, insurance broker and long serving politician. He served as an alderman in the City of Edmonton and went on to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta fr ...
, asked to grant
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
, called Aberhart and Attorney-General Hugill to his office. He asked Hugill if, as a lawyer, he believed that the proposed laws were constitutional; Hugill replied that he did not. Aberhart said that he would take responsibility for the bills, which Bowen then signed. As they left the meeting, Aberhart asked Hugill for his resignation, which he received. Shortly after, the federal government disallowed all three acts.Elliott 268 Powell was not discouraged, stating that the acts "had been drawn up mainly to show the people of Alberta who were their ''real'' enemies, and in that respect they succeeded admirably." Soon after the bills were introduced, Social Credit MLAs were subjected to a new loyalty pledge, this one shifting the target of their loyalty from the Social Credit Board to the cabinet. Six MLAs—including former cabinet ministers Chant, Cockroft, and Ross—refused to sign, and were ejected from caucus. In the fall, Aberhart re-introduced the three disallowed acts in altered form, along with two new acts.Byrne 124 The ''Bank Taxation Act'' increased provincial taxes on banks by 2,230%, while the ''
Accurate News and Information Act The ''Accurate News and Information Act'' (complete title: ''An Act to Ensure the Publication of Accurate News and Information'') was a statute passed by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada, in 1937, at the instigation of William Aberhar ...
'' gave the chairman of the Social Credit Board a number of powers over newspapers, including the right to compel them to publish "any statement ... which has for its object the correction or amplification of any statement relating to any policy or activity of the Government or Province" and to require them to supply the names of sources. It also authorized cabinet to prohibit the publication of any newspaper, any article by a given writer, or any article making use of a given source.Barr 109 Bowen
reserved Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Pomerania, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the largest company of the LPP group, which has more than 1,700 retail stores located in over 20 countries and also owns such ...
approval of the bills until the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
could comment on them; all were ruled unconstitutional in ''
Reference re Alberta Statutes ''Reference Re Alberta Statutes'', also known as the Alberta Press case and the Alberta Press Act Reference, is a landmark reference of the Supreme Court of Canada where several provincial laws, including one restricting the press, were struck dow ...
''. During the fall session in which the offending bills were proposed, police raided an Edmonton office of the Social Credit League and confiscated 4,000 copies of a pamphlet called "The Bankers' Toadies", which urged its readers as follows: "My child, you should NEVER say hard or unkind things about Bankers' Toadies. God made snakes, slugs, snails and other creepy-crawly, treacherous and poisonous things. NEVER, therefore, abuse them—just exterminate them!" The pamphlet also listed eight alleged toadies, including Conservative leader Duggan, former Attorney-General
John Lymburn John Farquhar Lymburn (September 25, 1880 – November 25, 1969) was a Canadian politician who served as Attorney-General of Alberta from 1926 until 1935. Born and educated in Scotland, he came to Canada in 1911 and practiced law in Edmonton. In ...
, and Senator
William Antrobus Griesbach Major General William Antrobus Griesbach, (January 3, 1878 – January 21, 1945) was a Canadian politician, decorated soldier, mayor of Edmonton, and member of the House of Commons and of the Senate. Early life Griesbach was born in Fort Qu' ...
. Powell and Social Credit whip Joe Unwin were charged with
criminal libel Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used. It is an alternative name for the common law offence which is also known (in order ...
and counsel to murder. Both were convicted of the former charge. Unwin was sentenced to three months hard labour; Powell was sentenced to six months and deported. Aberhart's government was re-elected in the 1940 election with a reduced majority of 36 of 63 seats. Among the defeated incumbents were dissident leader Brown, the convicted Unwin, the expelled Barnes, and the Provincial Treasurer Low. Aberhart won re-election by running in
Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
; his replacement as Social Credit candidate in Okotoks–High River was soundly defeated. Though the disallowance of banking bills prevented the implementation of a social credit program, the Social Credit Board persisted until 1948, when it was dissolved in response to a number of its anti-semitic pronouncements and its suggestion that the secret ballot and
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
be eliminated.Brennan 94–95


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1937 Social Credit Backbenchers' Revolt Social Credit Backbenchers Revolt, 1937 Social Credit Backbenchers Revolt, 1937 Political history of Alberta Canadian social credit movement Alberta Social Credit Party 1937 in Alberta